An upscale look for $20 even

Sunday

Nov 30, 2008 at 12:05 AM

Warm wisps of vanilla and spice candles immediately hit shoppers as they enter the door, walk through the used clothes drop-off area and make their way into the main store. Faceless mannequins stand stolidly in the large display windows, wearing luscious fur coats and round black hats, while matching pumps lazily lie on the floor. Mostly female customers, with the occasional husband lagging behind or children chasing each other around the clothing racks, are greeted by the sales associates, many by first name. Three dressing rooms, with doors but no locks, line one wall of the store.

Janna Swallow

Warm wisps of vanilla and spice candles immediately hit shoppers as they enter the door, walk through the used clothes drop-off area and make their way into the main store. Faceless mannequins stand stolidly in the large display windows, wearing luscious fur coats and round black hats, while matching pumps lazily lie on the floor. Mostly female customers, with the occasional husband lagging behind or children chasing each other around the clothing racks, are greeted by the sales associates, many by first name. Three dressing rooms, with doors but no locks, line one wall of the store.

Seconds Count, located in Fairhaven's Lifestyles Plaza, is a quaint consignment shop, selling a mix of trendy and vintage second-hand clothing. The store is sectioned off into three departments — women's, men's and children's — and then further divided into categories such as sleepwear, shoes and medical scrubs.

Without really knowing what I was looking for, I began in the dress section, finding everything from plaid schoolgirl jumpers to red sequined, semi-formal attire.

Handwritten signs on computer paper around the room informed me that all men's clothing and women's shoes and accessories were half off the already low prices that day.

The thought of shoes being twice as inexpensive as normal excited me greatly.

Heading over to the shoe racks, I gazed over the thigh-high black suede boots, corduroy stiletto clogs with Spice Girls written all over them and red patent-leather peep-toes.

I came across a pair of Miss Bisou solid black heels, with a slight hidden platform and an ankle strap.

Being the obsessed shoe lover that I am, I distinctly remember seeing these same shoes at a department store last Christmas, with a price tag around $50. Seconds Count's tag read $8, which meant I would be paying a mere $4 for shoes that looked exactly like those seen on runways today.

With shoes in hand, I headed over to the skirt section, not wanting to cover up my new-found treasure with long pants.

The majority of the skirts were priced at either $5 or $8, varying from flowing bohemian to short, teeny-bopper styles.

Leaving the acid-washed mini skirts on the rack, I was immediately drawn to a medium-length, full, black-and-beige printed skirt. It didn't appear to have been worn very much, if at all, and was tagged at $8. I snatched it.

Heading over to the tops, I began to carefully look through everything, searching for anything to match my skirt and shoes.

Surprisingly, at least half of the clothes on the rack were from brand names, and even designer, stores such as American Eagle, Guess and DKNY.

As I held various shirts up to my skirt, I overheard a woman of about 40 telling the sales associate, whom she knew by name, a story of how her teenage son, oblivious to his mother's secret shopping center, had sniffed the "new" jeans she'd bought for him recently. He immediately proclaimed that he loved the smell of new American Eagle wear.

Many of the shoppers at Seconds Count seem to be regulars, and they know where and how to get the most for their money.

I grabbed numerous sweaters and blouses, and headed into the dressing room for the third time that afternoon.

Settling on a seemingly new $8 black sweater from H&M, I had completed my outfit for $20 even.

When cashing out, other customers in line made small talk with me, commenting on what I was purchasing and gushing about their own finds. One woman was buying an entire china dish set she came across.

My new clothes were folded and placed into a Banana Republic shopping bag with scribbles of drop-off dates in blue pen decorating the top. In a few hours of looking, trying on, looking some more and rearranging garments, I had easily put together an awesome outfit for a mere $20.

Janna Swallow is a senior at Dartmouth High School.

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